Chapter 932
+15 BONUS
Chapter 932
With Ivory around, their little home felt much livelier.
Nicole worried about keeping the pups warm in the bitter cold. Ivory was a first-time mother, and Nicole had plenty of time, so she started making tiny outfits for them.
Zeph kept busy, too, working on a training routine for Ivory.
Neither of them noticed how quiet Poppy was becoming.
Nicole and Zeph had each other, and Poppy rarely interrupted their time together unless she needed something.
Before, Cola always kept her company. He joined her outside while she built snow forts and threw snowballs for him to chase.
Now he barely seemed to notice her. If he wasn’t trying to get Nicole’s attention, he was trailing after Ivory.
On clear days, he used to beg Poppy to come out and race through the snow. Lately, he never asked.
When she tried coaxing him outside, he stayed on the floor, rolling around with Ivory.
Poppy didn’t know what to do with the sudden change. Somehow, she felt left out in her own home. At
her age, it hurt more than she knew how to explain. 1
Whenever she was upset before, she could hug Cola and whisper things she couldn’t tell anyone else. Now, she wasn’t sure who would listen.
Nicole finally noticed when she put her work aside. Poppy lay curled on the sofa, pale and unusually still.
“What’s wrong, Poppy?”
“I got my period. My stomach hurts.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Nicole went over to her. “Do you have enough pads?”
She made Poppy a warm drink with supplies from her storage space. When she learned Poppy was out of pads, she brought her several packages.
After her afternoon nap, Nicole found Poppy on the sofa again, staring into space. Cola and Ivory slept together beside the stove.
She quietly returned to the bedroom. Thinking over the past few days, she said to Zeph, “Poppy seems a little down lately.”
Zeph thought for a moment. “Cola hasn’t spent much time with her since Ivory showed up.”
After years of disasters, isolation could take a heavy toll. Nicole was used to having people around now. The thought of living alone again, as she did in her previous life, left her uneasy.
1/2
Chapter 932
+15 BONUS
Zeph was Poppy’s brother, but he and Nicole were more like parents to her.
Once they realized something was wrong, they made more time for her. They talked, played cards, and challenged her to games of chess.
Still, Poppy held something back. In quiet moments, Nicole sometimes caught a look of unhappiness on
her face before she could hide it.
Losing her playmate was only part of it. Poppy was lonely.
They shared a home, but Nicole and Zeph had each other, and Cola was devoted to Ivory. Poppy was the only one without a companion of her own.
At her age, feeling left out could easily become a fear that she didn’t belong.
Nicole remembered holding hands with her classmates and skipping along beside them, no different from any other little girl. Then their parents came to pick them up.
No one came for her. Remembering that made it easier to understand Poppy.
Nicole picked out a few psychology books, hoping to find something that would help her reach the girl.

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